Line Cooks Best All Around Knife

Tue Mar 19, 2013 3:46 pm

Alright Knife Fans,

Its Saturday night and its Valentines Day. You have a variety of prep and items to cook at your station, including breaking down proteins, cutting uniform veggies, slicing bread, etc... etc.. You only have one knife you can use the entire night. What knife do you pull out that is your best all around knife for multiple applications...

Re: Line Cooks Best All Around Knife

Re: Line Cooks Best All Around Knife

Tue Mar 19, 2013 10:17 pm

If its Valentines day and Im having to do prep work on my station during service Id probably just use the knife to slit my wrists. ><

If I had to prep veggies and breakdown proteins with just one knife I would use my Masamoto KS 240 (its really like 255) gyuto. I've got a pretty decent collection of knives going now, but if someone was going to take them all away except for one, thats the one Id keep. I find it very versatile and much prefer it to my kono and moritaka gyutos

If the question is more about a line knife for a line cook to use during service, most people go with 150 mm - ish petty.

Re: Line Cooks Best All Around Knife

Tue Mar 19, 2013 11:22 pm

Twyst,

That answer was exactly what I was looking for. I actually have a pretty good knife collection now myself and my "go-to" knife that can take a beating and can also do multiple jobs is my MAC Mighty 9.5". I was curious to see what other members would choose as their "go-to".

Re: Line Cooks Best All Around Knife

Re: Line Cooks Best All Around Knife

Wed Mar 20, 2013 5:03 pm

Twyst: LOLYou should use a really rare and expensive knife to slit your wrists, that way someone will steal the evidence, and things will get complicated for the living involved. All jokes aside, an 8-12" chef/gyuto with a sharp but slightly roughed up catchy edge.

I learned to cook in an area where every restaurant had the same knife sharpening service, so I used Russel/Dexter/NSF type chef knives for everything. Once they got ground down too far, they were converted to boning knives. The knives stayed sharp for a day or two, and held up with a basic steel honing. By the time it was "knife day" they were almost impossible to use.

Ever since I found this site, and bought/maintained my own knives, I will never look back.

Re: Line Cooks Best All Around Knife

Wed Mar 20, 2013 5:51 pm

Jack,

Awesome observation. I will NEVER use house knives. My current restaurant uses Dexter and Russell Knives and uses a sharpening service. They are big clunky knives that are just beaten up daily. I don't know how people use them to do detail work. But the only thing I will even think of using is the Big Dog Meat Cleaver. And that is only because I don't keep my meat cleaver in my bag regularly because it is so heavy and takes up so much room.

Re: Line Cooks Best All Around Knife

Wed Mar 20, 2013 6:05 pm

The moment that changed me was when my "chef owner" who happened to be in the kitchen fixing the ice machine laughed at me for complaining to a turnip that it was a f*cking pain in the ass to dice. That little insult lead me on a path to understanding sharpening, kniife quality, and about one month's rent worth of knives and stones. I still use the cheese knife for cheese, and the stock knives to take the pit out of avocados.

Re: Line Cooks Best All Around Knife

Wed Mar 20, 2013 6:16 pm

The same revelation happened to me. It didn't happen until I worked at a very high end restaurant and I noticed the quality of knives that the guys used. I still keep my old thick chef knife for cutting into lobsters and such but other than that I keep a good stock of very thin and sharp knifes in my bag so I will never have to use a house knife. Although I do use a house knife to french lamb bones and such because I know I will not have to resharpen the blade when I am done